Sara Jussilainen, a Helsinki University collegiette majoring in Social Psychology, tells us why you should totally take a few courses in the subject too, and how to nail an exchange student interview!
What drew you to study Social Psychology as a major?
I’ve been interested in psychology for a long time and then a friend of mine told me that she will be studying social psychology. This was the first time I heard about the field and I got very interested. I applied and as I was reading the entrance exam book I realized that it was more interesting than I had ever thought.
Why would you recommend taking courses in Social Psychology?
I would recommend taking social psychology courses because it gives you an understanding of how people work in groups, a thing that is very current in today’s world. As there is more and more people in the world and we live closer to each other, and with the increased popularity of social medias, social psychology is a very interesting and necessary field to have some knowledge in. And I do not believe there is a field that would not benefit from a little knowledge in social psychology or where social psychology would be completely unnecessary.
Share us your favorite thing about Fall.
My favorite thing about Fall is, of course, the colors; everything becomes so vibrant. And I absolutely love mittens, hats, woolly socks and oversized wool sweaters. The time when it’s still warm enough that you don’t need a jacket, but cold enough for the items listed above, is my favourite time of the year. Plus, movie nights are better when it is dark outside!
You interview exchange student candidates for Explorius. What kind of tips would you give for someone preparing for their exchange interview?
I would recommend for anyone who wants to go on an exchange year to be themselves during the interview. There is nothing more irritating than when someone obviously just tries to give you the answers that they think you want to hear. And also, you should not be afraid of your own opinions or beliefs: if you think in a certain way and do not get accepted because of this, then maybe the program or the destination country isn’t for you. It’s a very difficult situation to know that someone is on the other side of the world and they have huge problems because they were not honest during the interview.